Clear Lake will be packed with boaters starting today and continuing through Saturday. American Bass will lead the parade with its Tournament of Champions (TOC) that gets under way today. The tournament runs through Saturday and operates out of the Konocti Vista Casino, Resort and Marina.
The tournament is expected to draw at least 170 boats. The weigh-in both days starts at 2:30 p.m. The waterfowl season also opens Saturday and there will be duck hunters out on the lake along with the fishermen. There are also several bass club tournaments scheduled this weekend.
Bass fishermen will find the bass are still widely scattered. The successful fishermen have been constantly on the move until they locate active fish. One problem has been the tremendous amount of baitfish in the lake. Silverside minnows, juvenile crappie and bluegill as well as small bass are everywhere. This smorgasbord of food has kept the stomachs of the bass full, which makes them harder to catch. The top lure continues to be the LV500 lipless crankbait followed by the Trash Fish swimbait. Twin-tailed grubs rigged on a dart head also have been effective as have Senkos. Topwater action has been slow although a few bass are being caught on buzz baits.
For those anglers who prefer to use live bait, a jumbo minnow has been very effective. A few bass are also being caught on a nightcrawler rigged drop-shot style. The water clarity also has improved and several fishermen report seeing schools of large bass cruising along the shorelines. Some of the better areas have been Rocky Point, Lakeside County Park, Konocti Bay, Henderson Point, the rockpiles near Rattlesnake Island and Jago Bay. For those who fish from shore, bass are being caught daily off the docks at Library Park in Lakeport. The dock at Redbud Park in Clearlake is also giving up an occasional bass.
The good news is that the lake level is starting to stabilize. Yolo County is only releasing out about three cubic feet per second and the lake level has been holding steady at 1.33 feet on the Rumsey Gauge.
Catfish action is still rated good throughout the lake. Cut bait as well as live minnows or nightcrawlers have been the top baits. Some huge bluegill are still being caught at Henderson Point and Shag Rock. The crappie action is dead.
Trout fishing has been very good at both Upper Blue Lake and the East Branch of the Russian River. George Hill of Kelseyville fished Upper Blue Lake on Tuesday and said he had little trouble bagging a limit of trout. He was trolling at a depth of 20 feet. He also caught a number 2-pound-plus bass drop-shotting a plastic worm. Limits of trout are also being caught in the East Branch of the Russian River.
Duck hunters open their season Saturday and from all reports the hunting should be excellent in the Sacramento Valley. Most of the public hunting areas will have enough water and be open. There will also be a good number of duck hunters on Clear Lake. Clear Lake always draws hunters from Fort Bragg and Ukiah along with local residents. The forecast is for clear and warm weather, which won”t help the duck hunters.
The entire lake is open for hunting but you can”t shoot within 150 yards of an occupied building and there is no hunting within the confines of the Clear Lake State Park and Anderson Marsh. Most of the hunters will be concentrated in Rodman Slough and Long Tule Point.
The daily limit this year is seven ducks of which two can be hen mallards. This year two pintails and one canvasback are also allowed as part of the daily bag limit. Regardless of the species, the daily limit of all ducks combined can”t exceed seven. The daily goose limit is eight birds but only six can be the dark geese. Hunters are reminded that in addition to their hunting license they also must have both the federal and state duck stamps.
